Finding Our Salvation
by blackdragonwingz
Summary: A broken Team 7. Four seasons. The dynamic relationship they have with each other. What they discover, they carry until the day they die. Fall begins when Sasuke comes back. SasuSaku four-shot
1. Chapter 1

Fall

Fall.

The season where leaves turn red with golden hues, or brown with honeyed lace.

The last fruits of the season ripened, many of them apples burning a deep red color, or amber yellow, or shyly blushing with splashes of dreamy pink.

The season that was just a taste, a nip of crisp cold to go with the beautiful surroundings of Konoha. It's not surprising that Konoha becomes a tourist spot in fall, is it?

But autumn was the season when Sasuke finally came back.

It had taken everyone by surprise. "_The_ Uchiha?" They had all said.

It was another one of those days, when the voice of leaves swirled around the citizens of Konoha, who were rustling around like leaves in the wind.

As the leaves danced and went, it seemed just as quick when Uchiha Sasuke appeared at the gates of Konoha, finally ready to come back.

The Godaime interrogated him the entire day, and for some odd reason, let him go after a quick sealing of some of his powers. Sasuke wasn't after blood; he was done with that.

Perhaps it was the healing powers of fall, where green began to fade into warm hues of red, yellows, and browns, before leaving death and cold in its wake.

She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, still unsure of what compelled her to do such a thing. Even her assistant, Shizune, was a tad confused.

As the Godaime looked down from her high tower, various parchment scrolls and elegant seals forgotten temporarily, she saw the Uchiha head straight for her prized apprentice's home, where, coincidentally, the "future" Hokage was, as well.

But ultimately, perhaps the Godaime did it for the smiles and tears of happiness as Sakura and Naruto launched themselves at the last member of their team.

Happiness. It meant to much to the Hokage of Konoha. It was her duty to keep her village safe, and her duty to keep it happy.

"_Then why did you come back? You could have joined Akatsuki, taken the place of your brother, become someone feared for an entire century," the Godaime asked, intent on getting to the bottom of things._

_He merely shrugged. "I wanted to see some people I left behind."_

"_That's it? You betrayed Konoha to join forces with a snake, and you come skipping down here to expect us to take you back with open arms?"_

_He grimaced. "Not exactly. I will accept whatever punishment you give me." He sighed almost imperceptively, slumped over in the chair, put his hand to his forehead, and with a slightly shaky voice, "I just want to go home."_

"_You can't be serious, Uchiha."_

"_Why not?"_

"_Betraying your village is not just a grave crime; it marks the end of your ties, and I know well enough that when you left, you broke my student's heart-"_

"_Naruto is your apprentice?"_

"_No, he's with that loser Jiraiya. Listen up Uchiha, you better have a damn good explanation for coming back, because nothing short of a miracle will save your revenge filled ass from being pummeled by our ANBU interrogation units."_

_An uncomfortable silence reigned between them, and the Godaime glared at Sasuke. _

_Finally, Sasuke spoke._

"_I will only say it once."_

"_What, your sad story of your reason?" The Godaime snorted impatiently._

"…"

"_My reasons for coming back."_

The seasons come and went, evolving itself into splendid beauties, the inspirations of humanity.

Perhaps Sasuke's heart could, as well.

00

"_Eh, Naruto, why don't you pick up Sasuke tomorrow and come over for dinner?"_

"_Sakura-chan, you're so cruel! Sending me to pick up that teme!"_

"_No Sasuke, no dinner. Come to think of it, I was just about to buy some ramen…"_

"_Ok, ok, Sakura-chan, you win."_

"_Tomorrow, seven sharp."_

That was the conversation between Sakura and Naruto the day before, as Sakura mused. She scooped up some rice, and smoothed it over a sheet of seaweed, before adding some cucumbers, various assortment of sashimi, and delicately smoked meats.

Sakura rolled up the sushi, and with the deft precision of a kunoichi, soon began molding into the precision and concentration of a surgeon, each slice yielding a perfect round center surrounded by rice and snugly wrapped in seawe-

"Sakura-chan!" A loud banging on the door resounded.

Sakura looked down to the roll she just sliced. The chop was straight line, but the sushi itself was slightly oval.

She sighed; what if that had been a real patient?

Putting down the gleaming knife, Sakura wiped her hands on her apron and proceeded to open the door.

There they were, just two of the most precious people in her life.

She saw Sasuke first, his blue eyes. He simply nodded, hands in pockets.

Naruto sheepishly put his hand behind his head. "We're five minutes early, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled. _Good. Kakashi-sensei hadn't rubbed off of them._

As she stepped inside, Naruto stood in the middle of her wooden floor, sniffing the air.

"That smells soo good, Sakura-chan!"

"Hn."

Sasuke had come in too, and he looked at her apartment, as if slightly bewildered and bombarded by her room's mere presence and the delicious smell in the kitchen.

"Make yourself at home."

Naruto immediately plopped on her pillow of a couch, and sat back with a loud sigh of contentment, like that of warm soup on the coldest day in winter.

Sasuke sat back on the couch across from Naruto, and turned his head away, as if Naruto really hadn't changed at all.

Sakura returned to the kitchen, intent on finishing the rest of her sushi.

If it was a real patient, he or she would have surely died by now. First the lack of concentration, the slightly oval sushi. Then left unattended for five minutes. No doubt the patient would have already died.

Her elegant brow furrowed and she frowned slightly, not happy with the thought at all, even though it was _just_ sushi. Dammit. It was just a piece of sushi.

Life is so incredibly important, to Sakura, to Sasuke, to Naruto, to everyone in Konoha.

Sasuke had killed, his life goal reached.

Sakura saved, to prove the worth of her own.

And Naruto fiercely pursued.

As Sakura came back with a plethora of dishes, Naruto sat back on a cushioned chair, and all three sat in soft, glowing circle around the table.

Tempura. Sushi. Sukiyaki. Seaweed salad, and sweet rolls of warm bread. She was lucky her profession as a medic-nin allowed her to buy such expensive foods. Being a doctor had its quirks, even if it was such a responsibility laden job. She stared at her cut sushi again with a slight frown.

Naruto was jabbering his head off, Sakura scolding him for various things, and Sasuke, lost in his own thoughts.

Sasuke had never been in such a happy, glowing surrounding before, and the loud, happy conversation felt to foreign.

He felt out of place, like an assassin in the room of a baby princess.

It felt wrong.

"Sasuke?"

Her words jerked him out of his thoughts from further depression.

"Oi, teme, you don't look good."

"Tch." He turned his head to the side in irritation. "Neither do you."

Sakura burst out laughing, coughing on her rice.

"Huh? What are you talking about, teme? I don't look sick like you do! What's so funny, Sakura-chan?" When she didn't answer, he thought over what Sasuke just said.

"TEME, DID YOU JUST CALL ME UGLY?"

"That was five minutes ago, Naruto." Sasuke dryly replied.

Standing up, Sakura left to go into the kitchen, knowing an argument when it came this way, and came back.

"Who's up for dessert?" Sakura drawled out, sweet tea cakes and soft candy buns on a tray in her hand.

Naruto gave one last look at Sasuke before marching over and grabbing a red bean paste bun.

Sakura couldn't help feel that the Sasuke who came back was still cold as ever, spiting insults this way and that.

She plopped the tray in front of him, tantalizing as ever.

"Dessert?" She asked in a cheerful voice, complete contrast to Sasuke.

He took a slice of candied apple, and looked at Sakura.

But she missed the look that reached out, hurt and anguish every bit in his gaze. Apples, emblems of fall, the forbidden fruit he slapped away years earlier.

Sakura herself sat back down, chattering about some training with Tsunade, oblivious to the memories of the incident.

Sasuke's glance focused back onto the table, the pale cream of apples and a splash of color where the skin was.

"Don't eat with your mouth full, Naruto." Sakura said with exasperation. She looked at Sasuke for a split second. He still didn't willing join the conversation. It would be a long time before he did, Sakura mused.

It didn't escape Sasuke; he had watched the encounters between both teammates, how both were suddenly closer than ever, and he was once again left out.

Funny how Naruto was left out at birth because of the Kyuubi.

Funny how they excluded Sakura during missions because she was always _so damn_ weak.

So, it was funny how now _he_ was the odd one out in this group.

When he parted with a solemn nod to Sakura and Naruto, he leisurely walked to the Uchiha complex.

Fall.

The season to muse, to watch the leaves fly down before dying.

The warm, vibrant colors of fires burning everything before it died, covered by winter's icy breaths.

And that's how Sasuke felt. When he came back, Konoha had been warm, some people happy, like Naruto and Sakura, and some with fiery distrust, like his neighbors.

And Sasuke felt like letting go of life, purpose lost. Leaves falling, and dying before winter's end.

Loneliness and tragedy burst in his heart as he saw his home once more.

He was the sole heir of the Uchiha name.

There is a time, when we are children, that we try our best to please our parents, to love them to the extent that they have of us.

When parents are gone, it seems like life itself has ended, too.

With no family, just a reminder of what home was, Sasuke's version of comfort, of home, is just a reminder of childhood.

The fires of autumn had come and go, the warmth of happiness suddenly washed away, leaving crackling brown leaves and death.

It seemed like his heart could do nothing but mimic the action of leaves in fall.

A/N: I'm not sure why I characterized Sasuke like this, but I did…

You know when people are so isolated from something they love, they have a hard time connecting to others?

Simply put, Sasuke feels like he can't connect with the close and warm bond Sakura and Naruto have; he's been gone so long, he's almost at loss as for what to do.

I have very high expectations for this fanfic! I'll post Winter in a couple of days.


	2. Chapter 2

With no family after his return, can Sasuke heal with the help of the two most precious people in his life as seasons change, come and go? SasuSaku.

A slow but sure fanfic through 4 seasons to heal the damage Sasuke inflicted on the two people he hurt the most.

* * *

Chapter 2: Winter Dreams

3

* * *

Sakura laughed gleefully, the snow surrounding her apartment complex like soft marshmallow dreams.

White snow continued to flutter down like butterflies, many of them frosting Sakura's lashes.

When Sasuke rounded up the corner and saw her laughing with her heart to the world, he had felt like maybe there was a reason to live. His walks in the morning led him to a different part of the town everyday; today just happened to be near Sakura.

They were the two parts that formed winter; beauty, and death.

And in that moment, it seemed as if Sakura encompassed all of the former, and Sasuke of the latter.

Both comprised winter, it seemed.

If Sakura found the snow in her hands joy, Sasuke found it to burn like hot coals.

It was finally winter now. It seemed as if Sasuke fell deeper and deeper into the icy depths of his heart.

* * *

He walked along the streets of Konoha with no direction or purpose, letting his feet carry him where he want. He mused back.....a flash of pink hair and coral lips, Sakura grew up an Leaf village sensation. If Sakura laughed, Konoha itself seemed to twinkle. Hard working, compassionate, Sakura was just about the most complex and _beguiling_ person Sasuke had ever met.

She'd do things out of what seems to be no purpose other than to help, she'd make Naruto eat vegetables with his ramen, and....he didn't know what she'd done to himself, but the thought unsettled him.

As unsettling as the faint panting that was close enough to detect Naruto's chakra.

"Sasuke, I've been looking all over for you!" Naruto panted, catching up to him.

No teme?

"What is it, dobe?" He felt slightly irritated. Naruto never said his name without his… customary title. He turned away, as if looking at just snow was better than looking at a childhood friend.

"Did you hear about Sakura-chan?"

His head snapped back to look at Naruto sharply. "What happened to her?"

"Nothing happened to her," he said exasperated, still slightly out of breath. "It's her parents. Apparently, they got attacked by hunter nins on the way back to Konoha, and they…they…" Naruto broke off, not meeting Sasuke's glance.

"I'll go and check up on her," His feet now had a direction, a purpose.

"That's not it! She found out yesterday, worked in the hospital all day and night, and then some ninja died on her and Tsunade. Now she's home and won't open the door for anyone!"

Sasuke tossed a backward glance to Naruto, and in a cold voice, "I'll make her."

"Oi, teme, can you make sure that you don't...do anything.... rash." Naruto finished lamely.

In the inside, we are all humans, compelled by the feelings that control us. As shinobi, rationality comes before feelings, for feelings are a barrier of our heart's true desires and the actions that once, Sasuke let himself be a human, for someone who claimed her love to him more times he had could ever count.

"Sakura, open the door!" Sasuke pounded on the door with his fist. He tried, and hit the door with more force.

No response.

"Sakura, open the door." Sasuke said in a more quiet voice.

He felt his knees grow weak. He couldn't get to her, he couldn't support Sakura like she did all those years.

Slowly, he slid down, the cool of the door against his back. He sighed and put the back of his head against the door.

If she didn't open the door, that was fine. He would wait. Sasuke has waited all his life to reach his goals. How many times did Sakura wait on Sasuke? Try her best to protect him, to heal him after all those time he carelessly became injured? This time, he would do it for her.

He watched the sun's ever slow descent; the swirling colors of the sunset, as if encouraging him to keep waiting.

Maybe he couldn't wait. He had to get to Sakura, _now_. He could feel the acute sting in his chest, and fought it. With a low whisper, he whispered in a tired, resigned voice, "Dammit."

The slow, icy swirls of his breath suddenly faded into the space in front of him, giving him more strength.

With a movement uncharacteristic of the Uchiha, Sasuke stumbled up and gripped the door handle for support, as if the sudden movement caused him to feel lightheaded.

"Dammit, Sakura. Quit being stupid and let me in."

He heard shuffling footsteps draw closer to the door.

"Sasuke?" Sakura whispered, as the door opened just a crack. A dull green eye glazed as it took in the form in front of the door.

"No other."

"Have you been waiting outside the entire time?" She asked, voice rising and slightly more lively with incredulity.

"Of course."

"I thought you left…" she broke off.

Sasuke was not the person she wanted to see right now. He lost his parents when he was so much younger, and here she was wailing because she lost parents that she actually got to know.

Out of all the days he came and visited, why now? Sakura felt a renewed urge to burst into tears with chagrin on the side.

If anything, Sasuke made her feel worse. He felt pity, she knew it. With Sasuke around, she had no reason to cry. He lost his parents so much earlier than she did. What right did she have, bawling her eyes out in front of him?

Weakly, Sakura attempted to slam to door, but Sasuke was having none of it.

She merely left, and sat on her bed, ready to give up life, on hope.

* * *

Earlier this morning, Tsunade's voice wavered as she looked up from a scroll on her deep mahogany desk. "Sakura?"

"Tsunade-shishou, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, immediately suspicious. It was completely unlike the Godaime to go unsure and waver at anything.

The Godaime sighed, and motioned her apprentice to come to her.

Sakura moved to the edge of her desk, and the Godaime motioned her to come even closer.

Very gently, the Hokage of Konoha put her arms around her apprentice, and held her in a strong embrace.

"Tsunade-shishou…" She broke off, not sure what to do, confused and lost.

That's when she saw it.

The build up of emotion in the Hokage's eyes that finally spilled and dripped to the floor.

There was something horribly wrong. Horribly, devastatingly wrong to bring the Hokage to this level.

"Tsunade-shishou?" She heard her voice crack, and she nearly turned away, unable to see her mentor cry. It hurt so much to see the strongest person in your life cry.

"Sakura," Tsunade said, hot tears rolling down her cheeks, whispered, "I'm so sorry. Your parents…" she broke off again, the harshness breaking the hearts of the two strongest kunoichi in Konoha.

She understood. Scroll. Mission reports. The crying. Her parents. The hug from shishou.

At first, everything went still. Time stopped, noise ceased. And at exactly 4 seconds, the Konoha Hospital suddenly roared to life.

That morning, Sakura cried, more than she ever had in her life. It seems as if every time something became right, someone had to leave her life.

In her case, the two most supportive and loving people. The people who had been there for her, the people who brought and raised her up.

"Sakura, I'll be right back. Water…?"

Sakura shook her head, and rest her cheek on the Hokage's desk, pale rose tresses and tears spilling. Her head ached with a numb sensation; her body shook with a trembling motion, her heart hurt with love lost.

Her eyes dulled to a stagnant green. That's the point; it wasn't just regular love. It was unconditional love.

Rising with sluggish grace, Sakura immediately moved to the patient care, not caring how she looked. She just wanted to forget until she got home.

A nurse came huffing out the door, looking for the nearest doctor. "Sakura-san! Can you..." as the nurse looked up, her mouthed formed a small "o".

"It's all right." Merely stuffing her hands in her pockets, she went into the room and began to read the reports before beginning.

If her parents didn't make it, well, she would have to make sure someone else's did, right?

Another nurse ran into the room, "We have an emergency in 139-C. Doctor Haruno, could you—_oooh_."

"What kind of injury?" she asked, voice cracking.

Gulping, the nurse motioned to her arms. "Third degree burns and major internal damage."

Without hesitation, Sakura left for the room and began routing chakra to her fingers, the slow, sluggish feel of the energy racing into her arms, drugging her mind. The sludgy feel of flesh mending again, the complex interactions between the cellular matrix she stimulated and more and more as she pumped chakra through the man's system, and was surprised to find a doubling of chakra.

When Sakura looked up to see who it was, Sakura received the warmest, most comforting smile from Tsunade.

Sakura smile wavered slightly, but she bit her lip to prevent the tears spilling from her eyes. It was a rule to be strong, wasn't it?

In the end, the hot tears rolled down her cheeks, but Sakura continued healing.

When Tsunade looked up and saw Sakura's tears, chakra pouring out just as fast, something caught in her throat.

She couldn't have been more proud of Sakura. The Godaime knew that kunoichi were rare, simply because the demands, physically and mentally, were too harsh for some. Kunoichi had to give up a lot in order to follow the lifestyle of a ninja. Marriage, one. And even, happiness.

They continued that way, until Sakura's hands went raw and bled from chakra overuse.

The Godaime and apprentice healed several more patients, and just about retired for the afternoon, when three men where rushed in.

When Sakura heard it was from hunter nins, she coughed blood, and proceeded to try to heal herself.

That was the state Tsunade found her apprentice, slouched against the wall, staring at nothing.

"Go home, Sakura." Tsunade whispered.

* * *

He said, with a slight strained, broken voice, "Sakura, don't cry."

She sobbed, drawing up her legs, and hugging them tightly.

"I miss them, Sasuke." She said in a voice so small and so broken he thought of a bird whose wings had been clipped. "I _miss_ them!" She said again, shoulders jerking with every strained breath.

"Shhh...." He said gently. What else could he say? Sasuke didn't learn how to comfort...he confronted his own nightmares...but he'd never faced someone else who was living it like now.

Winter is a season of beauty and death.

Sakura took a long look outside, watching a gnarly cherry tree frozen with opalescent icicles shine with every movement of her eyes. She rememered the night he came back.

_I am a monster, Sakura. Monster. He hissed, agony stabbing his heart._

_Humans are not meant to be alone, Sasuke. We are creatures of light, you and I. Come, Naruto and I will try our best to help, ne?  
_

She looked out at the same window from before.

And so it was, that the first green bud of the cherry tree freed itself from the ice encasing it, eager to bloom for the most beautiful season of all, Spring.

* * *

Thanks to FinaglingCherry and shkh4ever for the inspiration and push...despite it's lateness xD. Love you!!


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